The Fifth Element won over sci-fi fans back in 1997 and became an instant cult classic. Coming from French director Luc Besson, who also directed Leon: The Professional back in 1994, a film renowned for its style and wit, and his breakout feature with 1985’s Subway which earned a BAFTA nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. Suffice to say, Besson had already gained a cult following so he had to deliver on his first attempt at a sci-fi romp. Take a sixteen-year old’s imagination, combine it with aliens, Gary Oldman, and an opera-singing blue alien, and the end result is The Fifth Element.
Despite the movie being a departure from his previous works and a leap into the chaotic goofy campiness that this movie is known for, Besson managed to create one of the finest blends of sci-fi and comedy of the 20th century that is still revered by audiences over 20 years later. However, in those 20 years, there are still a few little-known titbits that a casual viewer, or even a big fan, may be unaware of, like some juicy secrets behind the scenes, the mishaps during production or just some little bits of trivia you never knew. Without further ado, here are some picks for things only super fans would know about The Fifth Element.
25 Chris Tucker Wasn't The First Choice
The character Ruby Rhod wasn’t always going to be played by Chris Tucker. With the other potential choices being so high up on the celebrity food chain, Tucker must have felt somewhat intimidated.
Other choices included Jamie Foxx and even Prince and Michael Jackson.
Both were sources of inspiration for the eccentric character. Prince was Luc Besson’s first choice but the Purple Rain singer turned down the role after telling the costume designer he thought the costumes were too effeminate.
24 The Trouble With Hair Dye...
Dyeing your hair seems like a fun idea until it comes out the wrong color and you have to stick with it until your hair is long enough to cut it out. At the beginning of the film’s production, Milla Jovovich had her hair continuously dyed bright orange. However, after
Her hair started falling out from becoming too damaged.
Thanks to the dye, she had to resort to wearing a wig for the rest of filming. And they said bleaching your hair with chemicals wasn’t fun?
23 A Diva Saves The Day
Do you ever think things happen for a reason? Diva actress Maiwenn may think so as she wasn’t originally supposed to be in the film. Being Luc Besson’s fiancé at the time, she landed herself the part due to the original actress failing to show up. Fortunately, Maiwenn made a great Diva in the famous opera scene. Do you think the original actress still kicks herself about it? Of course, fans were perfectly ok with the decision given the potent scene.
22 Splashing The Cash
Hollywood is known for splashing big bucks on the latest blockbusters with the likes of Disney/Pixar and the Marvel Cinematic Universe costing hundreds of millions per flick.
Back in 1997, however, The Fifth Element became the most expensive film made outside of Hollywood with its $93 million budget.
It also had one of the highest special effects budgets of all time. It was a huge financial success and became the most successful French film raking in $263 million worldwide, until 2011’s The Intouchables overtook this accolade.
21 Going Out With A Big Bang
Speaking of Hollywood and spending big bucks, in the case of the majority of action blockbusters, a large portion of that budget goes on special effects, with hundreds of workers hidden behind the scenes to transcend reality and create the most lifelike action sequences. While The Fifth Element had its fair share of CGI effects, the explosion in the Fhloston main hall was actually the biggest indoor explosion ever filmed. So big, in fact, that the fire almost got out of control and it took 25 minutes to put it out.
20 The Secret Of The Divine Language
The ‘Divine Language’ that main character Leeloo speaks in may just sound like a bunch of garbled gibberish, but little did you know there were actual meanings behind those words.
Luc Besson created the language for the film and it had only 400 words in its dictionary.
Besson had Milla Jovovich (who plays Leeloo) learn this brand new language. For practice, Besson and Jovovich would write letters to each other but by the end of filming, they could have full, spoken conversations. It also probably helped that Jovovich was already fluent in four languages.
19 Realistic Reactions
It’s always interesting to see the real emotions of actors leak through into their performances. This was the case for Bruce Willis and some of these reactions to certain situations. For example, his look of wonder when seeing Diva sing is real as he’d never seen the actress in full makeup before. Another instance is when Korben and Leeloo first meet and Leeloo (Jovovich) speaks in the ‘Divine Language’ to Korben (Wills). Director Luc Besson told Jovovich not to tell Willis what she was saying so his look of confusion was authentic.
18 It Broken Traditional Villains
You know how in almost every movie with a hero and a villain, the two are supposed to have some big confrontational scene at the climax of the movie? Not in this movie.
Korben and Zorg never actually meet or even communicate in any way.
However, towards the end of the film when Korben is running to the Fhloston hangar and Zorg is returning from it, the two do pass each other and are in the same shot for a few frames.
17 This Is Literally Impossible
One of the most alien aspects in the movie is not Diva herself but her inhuman singing ability. This is meant quite literally as when Inva Mula, who plays the voice of Diva, was shown The Diva Dance, she noticed something odd.
One of the notes was humanly impossible to reach.
She noted that the human voice couldn’t change notes that quickly. To remedy this, Mula had to record the notes in isolation then they were edited together for the movie.
16 Unintentional Time Travelling?
The movie may be meticulous with its production design, special effects, and action sequences, but it doesn’t seem to do so great when it comes to dates. The beginning of the film is set in 1914, however, when the movie cuts to 300 years later, the date is now somehow 2263, adding another 49 years from somewhere. Overlooking the simple things can result in the most embarrassing mistakes. It's a big ridiculous oversight in such a lavishly produced film.
15 Relationship Troubles Behind The Camera
No matter who you are, everyone loves a bit of gossip, especially when it’s something that has the potential for awkwardness. As it happened, there were some saucy goings-on during the making of the movie. Luc Besson was engaged to actress Maiwenn (who played Diva).
Besson ended up leaving her and instead started a relationship with Milla Jovovich. Ouch.
Although, after the two got married in 1997, their marriage was short lived as they soon divorced in 1999. Looks like Maiwenn had the last laugh.
14 The Magical Moving Wound
Do you ever find it annoying when you hurt your leg but the injury can’t decide which leg to stay on? That seems to be the case for Korben’s limp as his leg seems a little unsure as to which one is damaged, switching from his right leg to his left leg several times throughout the film. Looks like someone might have been faking it the whole time, eh Korben? Don’t worry, barely anyone noticed. Still another funny mistake in a classic film like The Fifth Element.
13 Easy Peasy
Almost every director wants an A-list actor to be the face of their up-and-coming movie, and a lot of directors would die to have Bruce Willis as a lead actor in an action movie. But how hard must it be to get a hold of someone that big in cinema and get them to agree to star in your movie? In Luc Besson’s case, not very, considering he claims that
Casting Bruce Willis was the easiest part of making the movie.
Apparently, Besson gave Willis the script and just two hours later, Willis accepted. If only it were that easy for every director who wanted a big actor to star in their film.
12 Cheap Visuals
While the film featured CGI that was quite reputable at the time, there were also a lot of practical effects including the costumes of the Mangalores and the building models in New York City. You’d believe it with the $93 million budget but what you might not expect is that the stars used as a background to show the vast expanse of space was actually nothing more than just a sheet of black fabric with holes poked through it. You’d think they’d splash out a little bit more on a budget that rivals even today’s blockbusters.
11 Crazy About Five
Do you ever find that you’re always looking at the clock and it reads 11:11 or any other repeating digits? If not, you might think you’re crazy with the number of times the number five is featured in this movie. There are five elements (obviously), Zorg stops the bomb when there are five seconds remaining on the timer, Korben’s license has five points left on it, and Ruby Rhod’s show starts at five o’clock. After all those references, you may wanna take five.
10 Model City
The film has style oozing from every orifice with its great visual effects at the time, both practical and CGI, and its staggering production design. In fact, a lot of the scenes of New York City were actually model buildings that were constructed to a 1/24th scale, with some reaching 20 feet high. It took a team of 80 workers and five months to complete the models. Not quite as long as a real city, but it's cool to know how much work went into it.
9 Staying Hushed About The Budget
There might be a reason why the movie had such a high budget and it’s down to the sneaky director who wanted to make his vision become a reality without monetary restrictions.
Luc Besson tried to pull a fast one on his financiers.
Even though the financiers had set a budget, Besson exceeded it greatly and never told them or showed them any footage. What they didn’t know never hurt them, I guess? Well, I imagine they weren't too pleased when they did find out.
8 Awesome Reference To An 80s Classic
In a cult classic like this movie, there had to be at least one reference to another sci-fi flick. In the taxi scene where Leeloo crashes through the roof, a police officer speaking through a megaphone says “thank you for your help”. However, in post-production, this line got redubbed to “thanks for your co-operation” as a reference to 1987’s RoboCop. Another reference to it is the fact that the helmets that the police officer wears are somewhat similar to the helmet that RoboCop wears.
7 Down To The Finest Detail
As has been mentioned already, the level of detail when it comes to design and style is second to none, and to acquire that level of intricacy is incredible.
To make a world so believable must take a lot of patience, commitment, and perseverance.
If there was an award just for these traits alone, it would definitely go to costume designer Jean-Paul Gaultier, who personally checked the costumes of 500 extras featured in one scene. Or maybe it’s just that he didn’t trust anyone else to check them for him?
6 Bad Timing
Time to take another trip to the world of continuity errors, and once again it’s a nitpick about time. In the final scene when a scientist says it’ll take “one minute” before “Mr. Shadow” reaches Earth’s atmosphere.
However, it actually takes 1:49 from that moment until he is stopped.
It may seem like the movie doesn’t know how to read a clock but there is one instance of good timekeeping where the President tells Father Vito Cornelius that he has twenty seconds to speak, he actually speaks for exactly twenty seconds.